A Matter of Trust
by TaliaFox
Summary: Five times Peter was there for his team and one time they repaid the favor.
1. Ava

1\. Ava

Peter Parker always thought Ava was responsible. She always made sure to get all her homework done, study for tests, get extra credit, and still manage to save people on a daily basis (and the world, on a few occasions).

This is why when the teenage heroes received their trigonometry tests back and she had a large 'D' on it, Peter was more than a little confused, to say the least. But, more than that, he felt a little guilty.

A few days before said test, Peter indirectly managed to free the Juggernaut. That, of course, led to the team spending night after night hunting down and battling him. It took several days and many bruises.

Because they spent so much time focused on Juggernaut, Ava didn't have time to study, and couldn't do a few homework assignments.

At lunch, Sam decided it was about time she arrived on their level, to which Ava abruptly got up and left.

"Hey! You forgot your-" Luke trailed off, holding up her forgotten test.

"Can I see that for a second?" Peter snatching the paper from the air and leading through the pages.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna see it next!" Sam grinned.

"That is Ava's personal property, you should not be looking without her permission." Danny leveled a look at the other men.

"It's a test, not a house," Sam said, leaning back in his chair.

Peter shook his head. "Unlike Sam, I'm not counting how many questions she got wrong." He grinned. "Gotcha! I gotta go. See you guys later," Peter said, rushing out of the cafeteria.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

"I do not know," Danny answered, his eyes trailing after his friend.

After school, aboard the Helicarrier, Peter pulled Ava aside.

"What is - where did you get that?" Ava seethed, grabbing her test from Peter's hands.

"Relax. You left it at the lunch table. I looked over it and found what you were doing wrong."

"So, what? I've already failed it. Come to rub it in my face?"

"I've already talked to Mr. Tate." Peter grinned. "If he asks, your mom was in the hospital all last week. Given that you're his favorite student and the surrounding circumstances, he said he'll make a new test, and if you come in Friday after school you can take it. And, if you want, I can show you what you're doing wrong."

Peter wished he had a camera. Ava was speechless, and the look on her face!

"Wow, Peter. Thank you," she murmured, finding it hard to meet his eyes.

"No problem. Plus, I kinda felt like it was partially my fault you couldn't study."

"Well, its completely your fault. But, I mean it. Thank you, Peter."


	2. Sam

2\. Nova

Peter hated when the team had to split up, like when there was more than one threat to face. Not necessarily because of the fact that they were splitting up (they were only a wrist-watch call away, after all), but because he could be paired with Bucket-Head, a.k.a. Nova. And spending time with Nova was . . . well, it was spending time with Nova.

It usually entailed, at one point, him giving an order and Nova ignoring it completely, going instead with his own ideas. They usually didn't end well.

On their latest split-up, Bucket-Head decided to do his own thing. A civilian ended up injured. They're fine now, thank God, but the worst part was Fury.

He went on for at least a twenty minute rant, which just got him more worked up.

"Nova, what were you thinking?" Fury seethed, pushing into Nova's personal space.

"Sir, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." Fury paced back a few steps. "Maybe some time off the team will get your head on straight. You've had too many close-calls lately."

That got Nova to shut up. Peter, too.

They may not always agree, and Nova gets on his nerves a lot, like, all the time. But, when he's out there, Peter likes to know his team has his back – his whole team. And if it meant putting up with Nova, well, it may be worth it.

"Director Fury, sir. It wasn't Nova's fault. It was mine. I made a judgement call, Nova followed my orders."

The silence from Fury and Nova was deafening.

Fury sighed. "Listen to me, Parker. One more accident – one more – and you'll be the one taking a break, understand?"

"Completely, sir."

Fury stalked off to the main level, his one-eyed glare haunting Peter's thoughts.

"Why did you do that?" Nova's question sounded, his eyes suspicious and unrelenting as he stared at Peter.

Peter sighed, he'd really wished Nova would just drop it. "As much as we may not agree, I know you have my back. And, while I'm out there, I like to know you have it, and the rest of the team's. I don't need anything throwing off the equilibrium."

Nova grinned. "So, I am the best on the team."

Peter rolled his eyes, already regretting his decision, and started walking away.

"Thanks, Web-Head."

Peter froze for a moment, unsure on whether he heard Nova or not, then turned to see the back of Nova as he walked out the opposite door.

Peter sighed, turned, and left.


	3. Danny

Chapter Three - Danny

Peter despised magic. Stupid sorcerers with their stupid spells.

He shouldn't have let Danny go in first. The magic-weider put some sort of nightmare curse on him. Now, Danny's in med-bay in the Helicarrier, the doctors trying to figure out how to safely wake up an unconscious Iron-Fist, and all Peter could do was sit a little ways away, keeping an eye on his friend.

And look through the sorceress's book of magic. What his life has come to.

He found the hex used, and a cure. But it needed a rare herb found on the other side of Earth. And an eye. Nova, White Tiger, and Power-Man went to collect the herb, and Peter didn't want to know how Fury was going to get an eye. Peter stayed behind, preparing the rest of the antidote.

After the stirred everything together, Peter had nothing to do but sit and wait, so he flipped through the magic book.

Fury's boots echoed on the metal as he marched in, glancing to Danny before setting his eyes upon Peter. "Antidote ready?"

"Just waiting on their herb and eye."

"The eye's on its way."

Peter shivered. "We may not need it."

"Why?" Fury's steely eyes stared into Peter's.

"The spell she used on Danny said he'll be trapped in his mind until the antidote is given or he faces his nightmares, right? Well, Danny doesn't know that, but here's a spell that will let someone go into another's mind."

"What are you saying, Parker?"

"I'm saying, send me into his mind. I'll tell him what he needs to do and he'll wake up on his own."

…

Peter touched his fingers on either side of Danny's temples as he looked down at the spell. "I feel kinda ridiculous."

"Focus, Parker. In, out. Quickly, understand?"

Peter nodded, murmured the words in front of him, and everything went black.

He opened his eyes to find a long hallway with a door on either side, a harmless table with a pot of flowers next to him, and two windows on one side, the bright light blocking whatever was out there.

"Danny!" he called. "Danny? Danny! Where are you?"

"Peter?" he heard a moment later, the noise coming from the other side of one of the doors.

He ran towards it. "Yeah, it's me, Danny, open up," he said, finding the door locked.

Slowly, he heard the lock click and the door swing open. Peter grinned upon seeing his friend, but Danny just grabbed a fist full of Peter's shirt and dragged him into the room, slamming and locking the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Danny asked.

"Getting you out. Look, the sorceress we were fighting cursed you with some sort of nightmare hex. All you have to do to wake up is face it."

Danny looked down. "I… can't, Peter. I can't do that. I can't go out there."

Peter paused, trying to think through his words. "Danny, I know. I know there are some things that you never want to ever think about again. But you need to wake up. Come on, if situations were reversed, you would hook me up with some age-old sage advice. You need to face this head-on, that's the only way it'll go away."

Danny hesitated. "Will you wait here?"

"Of course. I'll be right there when you wake up, too."

Danny unlocked the door, glanced back at Peter, then opened the door and walked out. The door shut behind him with a thunk.

It was another minute before the darkness engulfed him once more.

Peter opened his eyes to find himself back in med-bay. He drew his hands back and looked down at Danny, whose eyes were open.

He sat up, looking around right as Nova, White Tiger, and Power Man ran into the room.

"He's up! Fury, we can- Wait, they're both up!" White Tiger shot up from her seated position near the two heroes.

The rest of the team appeared in the doorway, bolting into the room. Fury sauntered behind them.

"It seems as if I have missed something." Danny glanced around the room, but when his eyes landed on Peter, they lit up.

The team crowded around, jokes being thrown and stories told.

"Listen, I promised Aunt May I'd be home early tonight. Glad you're okay, Danny." Peter made his way to the door, only pausing to look back at his team.

They nodded and Peter took his leave, but froze when he heard a voice.

"Thank you, my friend."

Everyone was still talking, the quiet voice almost overlooked. But it wasn't said aloud. It was sounded in Peter's head.

He turned around. Danny stared him straight in the eye.

Maybe Danny was able to speak to him because of his meditation. Maybe it was caused by the mind connection they just shared. Maybe there was no voice at all.

Regardless, Peter grinned at his friend before turning to leave.


	4. Luke

Chapter Four - Luke

Peter considered himself to be a good observer, which is why he immediately noticed when Luke started acting strange.

He stumbled over words, and actually tripped in the hallway, so Peter started taking mental notes whenever he became weird.

It was always at school, and always near the same person. Some girl by the name of Jackie. She was cute, and Peter realized Luke liked her.

Peter, naturally, wanted to help his friend. And did Luke need it. He needed to impress her, and Peter had just the idea.

He noticed after observing Jackie that she was in to superheros - she had pictures lining her locker.

Phase one: get them in a room together.

Peter simply sent Luke a text telling him to meet in the gym after school, where Jackie practiced cheerleading.

Phase two: get them locked into a conversation.

When Peter knew Luke was about to enter, he struck up a conversation with Jackie, which was not easy, but she was pretty cool once they started talking. Then all he had to do was wave Luke over when he came in.

Phase three: impress Jackie.

"Hey! Jackie, this is Luke. You know, one time we were walking home and these guys cornered us. Luke here took them out single-handedly. He's practically a superhero."

Okay, maybe he should have dialled it down a little - Luke did give him a warning look. But it wasn't a complete lie. That did happen, Luke just had his mask on at that time.

Jackie did look at him differently, though. Mission complete.

Now, find an excuse and leave.

…

The next day, Peter was walking to class when Luke caught up with him.

"Hey, Parker! I know what you did. Thanks, man."


	5. Fury

Chapter Five - Fury

Peter knew a lot of things: Calculus, geometry, biology, and that Fury would never thank him.

When the bomb went off, no one expected it.

The helicarrier was thrown off-balance. People either sliding around or holding on for dear life.

And it interrupted the team's' missions.

They'd already split into two teams. Spiderman, Power Man, and Nova were duking it out with Juggernaut while White Tiger and Iron Fist were hunting Kraven.

When the call came in, Peter truly didn't know what to do.

On one hand, they needed to get to the helicarrier. On the other, Juggernaut couldn't be free to roam around, and Peter wasn't keen to have anyone leave at this point.

"Spidey! Go, we got him!" Power Man threw a chunk of cement at the massive target before motioning at Peter.

"Are you sure?" Peter glanced to Juggernaut hefting a car over his shoulders.

"You heard him, Web-Head, get lost!" Nova shouted, flying by.

Peter wished he'd been briefed on who was up there before he decided what to do.

…

When he got up there, a gaping hole was left where the bomb went off.

Next to it was the Green Goblin, dangling Nick Fury over the hole . . . while it was still flying high in the air.

Luckily for them, Peter noticed White Tiger and Iron Fist behind them, sneaking up. Glad Kraven was a quick catch, Peter focused on the big green mess in front of him.

"Hey, Gobby, how ya-"

Green Goblin let go.

White Tiger pounced on the Goblin, Iron Fist following suit, trying to hold him back while Peter leapt to the hole, his webs shooting out of his wrists and attaching to Fury twenty feet below.

"What's the matter, Goblin, not in the mood to talk?" Peter grunted, beginning to pull up Fury.

Spidey sense going off, Peter glanced behind him. He ducked as a chair went sailing over his head and down the hole. Fury barely managed to dodge it.

Once White Tiger and Iron Fist preoccupied the annoying green giant again, Peter began the process of pulling up their leader once again.

When Fury was just an arms-reach away, his spidey sense went wild.

Turning to see a desk flying towards him, Peter debated ducking again, but wouldn't when he realized Fury was sure to be hit.

Peter held his ground but couldn't stop the small grunt of pain when the desk shattered on his back. He stumbled, but refused to fall.

He yanked Fury up the rest of the way, then turned to face the Green Goblin.

…

After debrief, Fury told Peter to stay behind.

Fury turned to the web-slinger when they were alone. "You did a good job today, Spiderman."

Peter grinned, but Fury grunted and walked away before he could reply.

"And I think that's as close as I'll ever get to a 'thank you'," Peter said to himself.


	6. Peter

Chapter Six - Peter

Peter Parker was so tired. He was awake, but he kept his eyes firmly sealed. And his head . . . and his everywere hurt.

 _What happened?_

Then he heard something.

Noises. Sounds. Voices.

It was random chatter, he barely made any of it out, but he focused when he felt a hand in his.

"Peter? It's Ava," a female voice said.

 _Ava_ , he pondered. Yes, he knew an Ava.

" _Well, it's completely your fault. But I mean it. Thank you, Peter."_

Fixing his mistake with his friend.

He felt pressure on his occupied hand and squeezed back automatically.

He heard a gasp and a flurry of activity.

Peter knew there were more voices, more questions, but found it hard to make any out.

Then, another familiar voice got through. "Hey, Web-Head, are you still alive in there?"

It was quickly followed by an "Ow!"

It was hard to forget a voice that annoying.

" _Thanks, Web-Head."_

Nova's back as he pretended not to care.

"Peter will awake in his own time. This is not something we can rush," a calm voice soothed.

Peter held onto it, soaking it in. It was a nice change compared to the rest of the noise around him.

" _Thank you, my friend."_

A voice in his head, a voice only he heard.

"Who's supposed to help me with my school work now, Parker? Ava won't let anyone near hers, you know that." That was the next voice he held onto.

" _Hey, Parker! I know what you did. Thanks, man."_

Helping his friend not trip in hallways anymore.

The final voice he heard was commanding, yet gentle. "We're all here, Parker. It's time to wake up.

" _You did a good job today, Spiderman."_

A kind of thank you.

His friends were here. He was safe. He was no longer tired.

Peter opened his eyes.


End file.
